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LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN

June 13, 2022

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Speakers Set for Next Week’s Midyear Meeting
It’s not too late to join us next Wednesday, 6/22 and Thursday, 6/23 in Rancho Murieta for the CCA & CCW Midyear Meeting featuring a great set of updates. Registration is open through Wednesday on the CCA website. Onsite registrations will be available for purchase at an increased price.

California’s wildfire crisis is likely to be a dominant topic of discussion at the event. Len Nielson, Cal Fire Staff Chief for Prescribed Fire and Environmental Protection will be providing a Cal Fire update. CCA Fire Subcommittee Chair Anthony Stornetta will also share what the CCA Fire Subcommittee has worked on over the last few months and provide an outlook on the expectations for this year’s fire season in California. Other speakers at this year’s Midyear Meeting will include Duane Lenz, CattleFax; Allison Rivera, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association; Kaitlynn Glover, Public Lands Council; and Dr. Marissa Silva, California Dept. of Food & Ag.

To see the schedule click here. Details on registration prices and hotel accommodations are also available at calcattlemen.org/events.

Workshop Series on Cattle Markets Kicks Off Next Week 
Join us virtually or at the Murieta Inn next Wednesday, June 22 from 1:30-3 p.m for the first event in a series of free workshops on cattle markets. In this first workshop Duane Lenz, CattleFax General Manager, will be giving a market outlook and update. Lenz is also scheduled to discuss accessing and using federal reports and other available data to make informed marketing decisions.

This workshop is open to all at no cost. If you would like to attend this meeting, click here for the address to the Murieta Inn and Spa. To participate in the meeting virtually, click here to register for it via Zoom.

Logos for grant workshop

CDFW Confirms New Wolf Depredation
Last week the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) released a gray wolf depredation report describing a May 29 wolf depredation of livestock on private land in Eastern Siskiyou County. A cattle producer discovered a 175 lb. calf carcass while checking on an agitated cow. Later that afternoon, Siskiyou County Wildlife Specialists investigated and were able to confirm that the calf had been killed by a wolf.

Tooth scrapes and punctures found on the calf carcass were consistent with a wolf attack, and wolf tracks were observed near the carcass. Additionally, Whaleback Pack wolf OR-85’s GPS collar placed the wolf at the incident’s location around 2:00 a.m. on May 29. To report evidence of wolf presence, including sightings, fill out the survey on the CDFW Gray Wolf web page here.

SWRCB Imposes Additional Curtailments in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) Watershed 
On Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) announced it has again imposed curtailments on certain water rights within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed, in place effective June 8 and subject to ongoing evaluation.

The Sacramento River tributary water rights curtailed include appropriative water rights for the Putah Creek subwatershed with a priority date of 1850 or later, for the Cache Creek subwatershed with a priority date of 1859 or later, for the Bear River subwatershed with a priority date of 1942 or later and for the Stony Creek subwatershed with a priority date of 1957 or later. San Joaquin River tributary curtailments include all appropriative water rights and riparian water rights in the Calaveras River subwatershed and Chowchilla River subwatershed, and all appropriative water rights on the Merced River subwatershed with a priority date of 1859 or later. Finally, all appropriative water rights within the San Joaquin River watershed with a priority date of 1900 or later have been curtailed.

Water rights within the Legal Delta are not impacted by the above curtailments.These curtailments are expected to continue through summer and the beginning of fall. You can find more information on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed webpage.

In like manner, the Scott River Watershed is at risk of being curtailed soon if minimum flows are not maintained. Announced Friday, so long as the required minimum flows of 125 cubic feet per second are maintained at the USGS Fort Jones gage, curtailments in the Scott River watershed will be suspended through June 17. You can find more information on the Scott-Shasta Drought Webpage.

Additionally, the SWRCB previously announced that the current temporary suspension of curtailments within the Russian River watershed will remain in place June 15. You can find more information on the Russian River Drought Webpage.

For questions about curtailment and suspension notices or how to comply, please contact the Rancher Technical Assistance Program at (916) 409-6902 or rtap@wrstrat.com.

Represent California on the Cattlemen’s Beef Board
Interested in helping shape the beef checkoff? Now is your chance to get involved! The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service is seeking nominees for the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board. Nominees will be considered for seat openings that expire in March 2023 for the Southwest Unit (California and Nevada). The Board is authorized by the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 and is made up of 101 members representing 34 separate states, four units of geographically grouped states and one importer unit.

Any beef producer who owns cattle may be nominated. Producers must be nominated by a USDA certified producer organization (including CCA) and submit a completed application. USDA will select appointees from the nominated producers. To learn more about the Cattlemen’s Beef Board and being nominated, click here. Those interested in being nominated please contact Billy by June 20th at billy@calcattlemen.org.

Legislative Leaders Unveil Draft Budget
In response to Governor Newsom’s “May Revise” of the 2022-23 State Budget last month, Senate and Assembly Leadership have outlined the Legislature’s budget blueprint, “Delivering Prosperity & Strengthening the Future by Putting California’s Wealth to Work.” For details of the Legislative proposal, see last week’s edition of Legislative Bulletin. The Legislature is Constitutionally required to deliver the State Budget by this Wednesday; CCA will provide details of the final Budget in next week’s edition of Legislative Bulletin.

LAST CHANCE: Sign Grassroots Letter Against Mandatory Reporting of GHG Emissions
In April, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a rule requiring publicly traded companies to disclose their direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. While cattle producers will not be subject to direct reporting requirements, the proposed rule could indirectly impact several segments of the cattle and beef supply chain. In response, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association has launched a grassroots campaign for cattle ranchers to urge the SEC not to require companies to report their ‘supply-chain’ emissions. Click here to tell the SEC to stick to regulating Wall Street, not Main Street. The grassroots letter will be available for sign-on through Friday. For additional details, see the May 23 edition of Legislative Bulletin.

Upcoming CCA Events

CCA Midyear Meeting
June 22-23, Rancho Murieta
Being held just outside of Sacramento this year, we encourage you to maximize your membership by attending and being an active part of the CCA policy making process. Come hear updates from researchers, industry leaders and experts, agencies and affiliate organizations. Your voice helps develop policy that provides direction for CCA and will influence the future of ranching.

Click here to see the schedule and for details on registering and reserving your room at the Murieta Inn.

Industry News

How these neighbors use fire to revitalize their communities, and land National Public Radio “In 2018, Lenya Quinn-Davidson, a fire expert with the University of California Cooperative Extension, helped found the first community-led burn organization in California: the Humboldt County PBA. Quinn-Davidson and her colleagues recognized the need to apply more prescribed fire in their state, so they coordinated a field visit to burn with a Nebraska PBA.” To continue reading, click here.

California lawmakers mull buying out farmers to save water Associated Press News “Now, with California having a record budget surplus of nearly $100 billion, Democrats in the state Senate have proposed using up to $1.5 billion to buy senior water rights — by either buying the land associated with the rights, buying just the right itself, or putting an easement on the land that requires the water to be used for fish and other fauna and flora.” To continue reading, click here.

US proposes experimental populations of endangered species outside historic habitat Courthouse News Service “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Monday it wants to introduce experimental populations of endangered or threatened species outside these species’ historical habitats where climate change and invasive species have made those habitats unsuitable.” To continue reading, click here.

Jess Pryles, meat specialist and advocate, live fire cook, author and founder of Hardcore Carnivore joins us on the podcast. Hear how Jess, a city girl from Melbourne, got into learning all she could about meat and why she’s passionate about busting false myths about beef and other proteins. Click here to listen.

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